The Central District News blog reports that Seattle Central Grind is closed, leaving the neighborhood with few, if any, coffee options along Martin Luther King Jr. Way between McClellan and Madison streets.

Happily, a new shop is scheduled to open next week at the nearby corner of 25th Avenue and East Union Sreet (in photo), the blog reports.

"I just had a talk with Will Little, owner of the new shop, who said that the shop will be named Cortona, after an Italian village where he attended a cultural conference while in grad school," the blog says. The beans will come from Herkimer Coffee, and they'll offer crepes, waffles, free WiFi and a projector in a community space upstairs.

Cortona Cafe is opening less than half a mile from the Central District shop of Tougo Coffee, whose owner Brian Wells -- by the way -- is raising money for a trip he's taking next week to Ethiopia, where he will photograph children benefiting from a new medical clinic in Addis Ababa built by Blue Nile Children's Organization, which Tougo supports.

Wells said he's been "part of the designing of the shop, the hiring and training of the staff, and of the coffee program and continued training of Cortona Cafe staff."

It's tentatively scheduled to open Wednesday, Wells said.